High heart rate when walking

[nbee]

My heart rate when walking briskly on the school run often hits 160 - 180 bpm (I'm 48) which seems too high considering I'm not out of breath or sweating and feel normal.

My fitness levels (I would have thought) are fairly good. I do classes at the gym 5-6 days a week. My heart rate in body pump rarely goes above 130 and averages around 100. Spin classes will go up to 150 and average around 125. Body attack is the most cardio class I do and my heart rate will be in peak zone for about 40% of the workout and average around 140.

Resting heart rate is 68. 

Any ideas? Maybe I'm not as fit as I thought?

[SunsetRunner]

I had/have a similar concern.  Are you looking at the results on your app or on a laptop/comptuter?

My app shows my peak bpm today for a walk at 162 for 17 minutes. (only about 30% of the work-out).  But when I look at the same activity on my laptop, with more detail - the range of those  17 minutes is wider - starting around 111, and much less of the time is up in the top zone.   That probably doesn't answer your question (it doesn't answer mine either) but I feel less panicky after seeing that I'm not spending more than a few minutes here and there at max peak.  I will be taking all of this data to my doctor, she'll be interested I'm sure.  (I'm 69 - resting heart rate is abt 62 but my blood pressure runs about 125/68 or so, with medication). 

[bcalvanese · Accepted solution]

Are you wearing your device tight enough?

Try tightening it up a notch and see if it still happens.

Optical sensors can sometimes pick up on your cadence if not worn tight enough.

[nbee]

Ah! I think you've got it! 

I wear my alta hr under my trousers/pants on my hip when pushing the buggy/stroller as it doesn't recognise all the steps otherwise. My heart rate is higher on the way to school and lower on the way back - it is slightly downhill on the way there and we walk faster.

Many thanks.

[ko40370]

I've worn my Charge HR for 2.5 years now, and what you experience is common, just do a web search on fitbit heart rate and you'll see what I mean.  I've experimented with all the suggested solutions for fixing a wildly inaccurate heart rate reading...do not rely on the Fitbit showing an accurate heart rate, especially while moving.  It does a good job while at rest and sleeping, but even moderate walking can see the heart rate all over the map.  I will be on a casual walk and my fitbit will say 181...3 minutes later it'll show a more accurate 88...5 minutes later it'll be 160...etc.  And this wildly inaccurate heart rate also dramatically affects the number of calories burned and the number of minutes exercising.  So don't rely on the number of calories burned, either.  So I've learned to accept the Fitbit as a step counter and showing my heart rate while at rest or sleeping.  That's about all though.  PS.  I'm 6'1" and weigh 160 lbs, so it's not like I have a challenging physical profile that would make if difficult for my pulse to be detected, ie., lots of body fat, especially on my wrist.

[J-flex]

My HR will routinely show as being in the 160’s when walking.  As I know this is never accurate I don’t worry about.  

[Betska]

Well I am unfit the most walking I do daily is back and forth up and down few stairs in my home or shopping I do park the car far away to make a bigger walk. Anyway just walked pushing a pram up tiny hill and I was sweating and heart got to 142 which worried me but if fit people are getting 160 or even 200 an unfit 54yr old like myself must be normal(I'm non smoker normal weight)

[Ligon19]

If you don’t tighten the band during vigorous aerobic exercise I don’t think tightening it a notch for mere walking should be the answer in my humble opinion. Still a mystery to me to see my heart rate in the peak zone.

[nbee]

I've tried all the different solutions but still get peak heart rate when out walking. I just think it just doesn't read properly - I'm not out of breath, I can't feel my heart beating faster, I can still carry on chatting away to my friend. I exercise regularly and when my heart rate is 160+ I'm out of breath and sweating. 

This year I've got a MyZone hr monitor (chest strap) that I just use when exercising. I wore it for a walk once and my heart rate didn't go above 110 (and the 110 was walking uphill)

I still use my fitbit as it keeps me active day to day and I'm motivated by the challenges.

[J-flex]

I personally don’t use my Fitbit aka watch on my wrist for monitoring my heart rate.  As an example of how ‘accurate’ Fitbit is I can be quietly sitting and reading and have a HR rate of 120.  That’s just not accurate or realistic.  I gave up on Fitbit years ago in terms of them touting something that wasn’t....

[Ligon19]

Thank you for your reply. I had never seen this happen on my Fitbit before and so now I know for walks a step counter!

Sent from my iPhone

[DDance]

This is not a solution. My Fitbit Charge 2 is super tight already and doesn't move when I walk. The heart rate readings seem accurate when I do aerobics. Just not walking. My heart rate while walking averages 174 with a max of 190--definitely not true or I would be dead. 

[Bobp93]

Hi dear, how did you measure it?

[nbee]

I've given up the hr monitor when walking. It's useless. Last week I wore a chest strap monitor so that I could see the difference. Peak hr of 130 and that was walking briskly uphill.

 

 

[Bobp93]

How did this happen?

[nbee]

I think it just shows how inaccurate wrist measurement for heart rate is. My walks often have peaks of 170+ and I don't even get out of breath. I wear the watch on the correct position and the correct tightness.

[Bobp93]

How can I set it up?

[Bobp93]

Can you guide me on this?

[DDance]

I was recording my walks as Workouts. I just discovered that I could add
Walk as an activity. The next time I walk I will record it as a Walk when I
start to see if this will provide an accurate heart rate. Will post an
update after I take that walk. Thanks for offering your help!

[Heybales]

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@nbee wrote:

I've given up the hr monitor when walking. It's useless. Last week I wore a chest strap monitor so that I could see the difference. Peak hr of 130 and that was walking briskly uphill.

 

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Wow - talk about a perfect example of when it would be preferred to use distance based calorie burn not the HR-based calculations it's likely using.

And since some people go on long walks rather than short intense exercise - falsely elevated by even 20 bpm could be rather inflated calorie burn.

I know you can turn off HR reading to force distance based - but it would be kinda nice to see HR aerobic improvements in fitness at the start even if walking is the workout.